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Only Expansion

Only Expansion

classified 

part of Step to the Earth

Audio walk

Until Sun 22 June

Undershed, Watershed

Duration: 45 mins

“Winner of the Best Immersive/XR experience at London Film Festival and Best Immersive Non-Fiction at IDFA Doclab”

Only Expansion is an outdoor invitation to explore Bristol and reimagine the future of our environment. With headphones on and a guidebook to follow you'll step into an augmented audio walk that captures and manipulates the live sounds around you.

As you move through the city, voices of passersby become a choir and bus brakes create pulsating rhythms, noises from elsewhere blend in and sounds from distant places like Tunisian deserts or Norfolk’s coastline drift into your ears. You hear what Bristol might sound like submerged underwater.

Only Expansion is a visceral and poetic journey through sound—an experience that invites reflection on life in a time of ecological crisis, ideal for both locals and those discovering Bristol for the first time.

This experience is suitable for all ages, but parental guidance is advised.

"...a project that not only makes you aware of the world around you, but also triggers the emotional chords within.” 

- IDFA Jury

What to expect

A person with dark hair has the Only Expansion guidebook open.

Only Expansion is designed for solo explorers walking through urban environments. Starting at Undershed, you'll be given a guidebook and custom mobile audio kit – before setting off to discover and explore the city in a new way.

The kit includes a Perspex laser-cut box and headphones fitted with outward-facing binaural microphones.

The work open-ended —there’s no fixed route or pace. The guidebook offers prompts like ‘find a quiet place’ or ‘something older than you’, making each journey personal and responsive to your surroundings. 

Please arrive at the beginning of your time slot to get set up and start your adventure.

A page from the Only Expansion guidebook with directions.
Inside a notebook is some text on a grey page to help guide you through the audio walk.
A young person wearing a grey beanie and black headphones is looking through a notebook.

"On a normal grey morning, it transformed the world around us and made it truly cinematic.” 

- Felix Barret, Punchdrunk

Duncan Speakman is a white man wearing a black beanie and black sunglasses, he is turned to the side.
Duncan Speakman

About the Artist

Duncan Speakman is an artist based at the Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol. He is best known for creating sonic experiences that engage audiences in uncontrolled public and private space, including installations on trains in Guangzhou, loudspeaker symphonies in New Zealand, audio walks in Saitama, and sound installations in Porto; he has also recently developed a number of hybrid print/digital experiments. From 2010 - 2015 he was co-director of the artists collective circumstance with Sarah Anderson, Emilie Grenier and Tom Abba. His current research is focused on the potential of sound in futures research.

FAQs

As this is a flexible outdoor walk, you choose your own route and pace, making it suitable for a range of access needs.

  • Mobility: No set route or time limit. It’s as accessible as the city streets you choose to explore.

  • Hearing: A sound-based piece, it has been experienced by people with and without hearing aids.

  • Vision: Headphones reduce awareness of your surroundings—if you rely on sound to navigate, we recommend going with someone.

  • Sensory needs: It’s immersive but gives you control over how and where you experience it.

  • Immune compromised: It takes place entirely outdoors, with no required enclosed spaces.

We’ll provide the audio equipment. Just wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather.

That depends on your chosen route and pace. Most people spend between 45 minutes to 1 hour on the walk.

If it is torrential rain we may ask you to carry the device under your raincoat, but it can be experienced in any conditions as long as you are up for it!

Due to the intensity of sound in Only Expansion and being free to roam around the city, we recommend that it's suitable for children aged 14+.

Absolutely! Each walk can feel different depending on where you go and what’s happening in the city around you.

£9.00 full / £7.50 concessions / £6.00 24 or under, Refugee/Asylum Seekers (plus 12% booking fee*)

We recommend you book tickets for in advance online, in person at Box Office or by phone on 0117 927 5100. 

Visiting Undershed for the first time

Undershed Gallery is located on the ground floor of Watershed - the entrance is to the right of the Box Office desk. If you haven't visited Watershed before, check out our Visit page for access, location and transport information.

Four people take part in an immersive experience, they are wearing headphones and painting with watercolours.

Credit: Paul Blakemore

What is Undershed?

Undershed is a new gallery for showing the best immersive and interactive artwork from all over the world. The first of its kind in Bristol and rare across the UK – this dedicated space will stage themed exhibitions that change every few months.

Undershed is a place to come together and experiment with new forms of storytelling. Come on in, keep an open mind and tell us what you think.

Book now

Or call Box Office: 0117 927 5100

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